Staff Reporter
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/ 26 February 2008

JSE sharply higher on world markets

South African stocks were sharply higher at midday on Tuesday following in the footsteps of European markets, but a stronger rand restricted gains. Above-forecast economic growth data added to the positive sentiment. At 11.59am, the all-share index was up 1,22% at 30 176,680, thanks to a 3,08% gain in banks.

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/ 26 February 2008

Horse-racing bet makes Briton birthday millionaire

A British man celebrated his 60th birthday in unexpected style at the weekend when a 50 pence () bet on the horses turned him into an instant millionaire. Fred Craggs, from Yorkshire in northern England, was not even aware of his win when he walked into a branch of the William Hill betting agency to see how he had done with his accumulator bet.

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/ 26 February 2008

Discovery says unit to quit US retail insurance

South African health insurance firm Discovery said on Tuesday its loss-making United States unit Destiny Health would quit the US retail insurance market. Discovery said Destiny would continue to market its Vitality product to employer groups and health plans, but would transfer its insured block of business to a health insurance carrier.

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/ 26 February 2008

Brett Lee defends Aussie behaviour

Australian fast bowler Brett Lee defended his team’s on-field behaviour on Tuesday and played down talk of another rift with India. The lingering ill-feeling between the sides surfaced again when Indian paceman Ishant Sharma was fined 15% of his match fee for a verbal altercation with Australian batsman Andrew Symonds during Sunday’s tri-series clash in Sydney.

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/ 26 February 2008

India thrash Sri Lanka to reach finals

India thrashed Sri Lanka by seven wickets at Hobart on Tuesday to book their place in the tri-series finals against Australia. India wrapped up a comprehensive victory with more than 17 overs to spare when they bowled Sri Lanka out for 179 before reaching their target for the loss of just three wickets.

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/ 26 February 2008

SA women’s hockey team trounce Russia

The South African women’s hockey team annihilated Russia 6-0 in the opening match of the Spar Tri-Nations at the Randburg Sports Complex on Monday, courtesy of a Cindy Brown hat-trick. The South Africans are fresh off the back of a training camp and a three-match series played against Canada last week — which they won 2-0.

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/ 26 February 2008

Starbucks closes to learn how to make coffee

Americans will have to cope without blended Frappuccino and blueberry coffee cake for a few hours on Tuesday as Starbucks shuts its 7 100 company-owned stores for a nationwide barista training session. Starbucks has ordered the unprecedented three-hour afternoon closure as part of an effort to improve coffee quality.

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/ 26 February 2008

Sarkozy hits out at Société Générale chief

French President Nicolas Sarkozy sharply criticised the chairperson of scandal-hit bank Société Générale in an interview published on Tuesday, saying his response to billion-euro losses was "not normal". "When the president of a company sees losses of that magnitude and does not draw conclusions from it, that’s not normal," Sarkozy said.